Daniel Sanders: “It was just good fun out there”

Dakar 2023 | Stage 11 | ALULA > YANBU
January 12 th 2023 - 12:41 [GMT + 3]

 “Chucky”, who was 2nd on the special, 1’38’’ behind Luciano Benavides, has climbed to 7th in the general rankings, 21’40’’ behind the leader.

Daniel Sanders – Stage 11 – ENG
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 “It wasn’t too bad. I started off a little slowly, just getting used to riding in the dunes again. Then Luciano did a little mistake and some other people made it after about 40 km, which confused me a little bit. So I just made sure I was on the right track and just slowed down a bit. Luciano caught up with me and we then just pushed until the refuelling point. Then afterwards, me and Luciano rode together all the way to the finish. So, it was good to push and learn the pace again and push out front – that was good fun. I think we’re in a good spot for tomorrow. It was just good fun out there. It was pretty hot and demanding, but it was good fun. The big dunes were alright. There weren’t too many big drops out there, like slip faces. There were a lot of dry beds which were fast, so that gave us a little break, but the dunes were good. They were a little bit soft in some spots. But the good thing was that there were no big drops – they’re the scary ones when they just slip away and fall away and you can’t see the bottom. So today was pretty good for that. It was good fun, to get to ride together and eat some sand in the dunes, so it was cool. The bike’s all good, everything is running smoothly, so I’ve just quickly checked over the wheels, the chain and all the oil levels and that, so everything is good and we’ll be alright for tomorrow. The stomach pain has gone, but this thorn is starting to come out so I had a lot of pain this morning at the start line and I probably should have taken out the thing last night. It’s pretty sore, the thorn in my arm. I think I’ll just have to suck it up and get through these next few days, before flying home and getting it taken out”.

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